I've got myself some tutors!

I recently corresponded with an author named Christy R. Harrill. I've not yet read her book, but I watched an inspirational video that she posted on TikTok. It essentially depicted the struggle of anyone attempting to get a book deal: writing, editing, querying agents, being rejected hundreds and hundreds of times... so she went the self-publishing route and has actually made a name for herself. I wrote to thank her for the video and to ask if she had any advice for folks aspiring to secure a following. The number one thing she recommended was creating reels for TikTok and Instagram.

I'm not the best at creating reels. I mean, I think in words and images, but not necessarily film clips. Therefore, even coming up with the ideas for reels is challenging for me.

The other challenge? The nitty-gritty of TikTok. Fortunately, I have tutors for that. On Tuesday, I recruited three of my students to walk me through the basics of making a video that people would actually want to watch. Family Friend was the lead teacher, but Wicker Basket and Poseidon Jr. were equally helpful. They were able to teach me about camera angles, filters, hashtags, and sound effects... and they did so with such patience!

Having been issued a challenge by the kids, I went home and filmed a reel to promote my upcoming book signing at Eighty-Two. And do you know what happened? The next day at school, so many of my students let me know that I'd shown up on their "For You" pages on TikTok.

"What's a 'For You' page on TikTok?" some of you may be wondering. Well, it's essentially a page of videos that pop up because TikTok suspects the user will appreciate them. Turns out, some of these users did appreciate it! I'm hoping an entire herd of them will show up tomorrow night because I think it would be fun to see them outside of a school setting.

Last night, I actually had an idea for a reel... but I didn't know how to execute it because I didn't know how to set up words to come and go in TikTok. Sure, I could have googled the answer, but I knew my tutors would be able to set me straight. Family Friend, Wicker Basket, and Poseidon Jr. were ON IT today! And they issued yet another challenge: "Go home and make another reel."

So I did.